Chapter 7 Dreams

Inko Midoriya had moved into the dorms of U.A. Bakugou didn't know who made the executive decision but had a strong suspicion that All Might had some stance on it. He didn't mind either way, since he and his mother had constantly gone over to the Midoriya household when they had time. She was alone in the house, no husband, no son, nothing but herself and her lonely, dreary thoughts. On top of that, it seemed like the executives took into account that she was the only true link to Izuku Midoriya's memories. While the altered memories had recognized Bakugou, it was possible that he could've recognized his own mother as something… uncaring. It was a stretch of course, but if Izuku could build up so much rage and hatred towards Bakugou, who's to say that the altered memories didn't do the same to his own mother? No one told her that reasoning of course, but she was already more than happy to move in with the children.

The class was kind to her, always asking if she needed something and treated her with the upmost respect. Inko had nervously declined any help and offered her own assistance instead. She had cooked meals for the class and spent time mostly in the kitchen washing dishes. (She wouldn't let anyone else do them.) Most of the class grew concern that they were taking advantage of the woman but Bakugou understood she needed to keep herself busy.

She cried often. Often as in more than her own son's routine of crying. It became clear to see that the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. Inko cried both in happiness and in sadness. No one blamed her for crying; after all, her son was forcibly turned into the one thing he sought to defeat.

The first time she had cried, Inko was sitting on the sofa late at night. Satou had snuck out of his room in order to grab some sugar ingredients for his room when he got caught by the mother. She had lectured him about eating after hours and the possibility of stomach aches but was intrigued by his quirk's properties when it came to sugar intake. Satou had apologized as Inko began laughing. Tears slowly fell down her cheek as she smiled through it.

Satou had told everyone the next morning that Inko had cried because he reminded her of a time Izuku had snuck into the kitchen to eat leftovers. She stressed that it was a happy memory and she was crying from the laughter. Satou had given her a warm embrace anyways, offering her cake.

Inko took his offer.

There were many other times she had cried, almost always related to Izuku in one way or another. Three times she had cried not related to her son:

The first, Iida had been talking to some classmates and Inko had walked over with a plate of snacks for the students. Iida's hand moved up too quickly and smacked the woman right in the face, causing her to drop the plate.

Needless to say, everyone was mad at the class president, including himself. Inko had reassured him that she was fine, her eyes just wells up easily. Iida was ready to jump off the balcony despite the mother trying to let him know that it was only an accident.

The second time she had burst into tears without the topic of her son was when Yaoyorozu made her a music box to decorate her guest room. Inko was amazed at the girl's quirk and the fact she had learned to make such an intricate object to gift her. This also caused an uproar in the class, finding it unfair that Yaoyorozu could create such a great present. After that, Inko's guest room was decorated with various trinkets and home décor the other students either bought or made for her. She cherished each and every one of the gifts she received from the students, making her cry again.

The third was a time only Bakugou saw and didn't say a word of it. It was past curfew and everyone had gone to bed. Only Bakugou and Todoroki were up during those hours, always training in secrecy either in their rooms or on the training field. The two never spoke to one another nor wanted to have any kind of joint training, so they avoided each other.

Bakugou walked back from the training field, muttering to himself on how often the hot-n'-cold bastard was always hogging it for himself. Both of their quirks required space to train, so the training arena outside of the dorms was the perfect place to hone the two student's quirks.

Sure, they could've both trained on the same field but neither of them wanted to interact with one another. The two had agreed to work together to save Deku, but that didn't mean they had to be friendly towards one another. Niceties were on neither of their plates.

As he walked back into the dorm building, Bakugou had heard small whimpering in the hall. He peeked his head around the corner to see All Might, the lanky form of him holding Inko Midoriya's hands and whispering things to her. Bakugou was concerned at first, fearing she had cried over Deku again but once he noticed her smile, he stopped himself from interfering. He kept this to himself, not wanting to share how he saw the two adults hold hands tightly like their lives depended on one another.

The mother settled in and the class grew quite fond of her after the first couple of weeks. She knew every single one of Class 1-A students' names and at least one or two fun facts about them.

"Everyone, please work hard today, always do your best!" Inko had nervously stuttered out as the students headed out the dorms, towards the main school building. She was always given hugs and promises in return, but Bakugou always felt bad whenever they had to leave her alone at the dormitory. She didn't have anyone to occupy her thoughts with, so that was probably the time when she thought about her son.

Usually Bakugou went straight back to the dorms after all classes were over, but today he had to meet someone. It took him while to figure out where the damn nerd was after classes but today he would finally be able to ask the questions he needs.

-

"What do you want, Hero Course?"

The tired eyes gave a harsh edge that Bakugou countered with a glare of his own.

"Shut the fuck up and listen to me, this ain't about me okay? I wanted to talk about your damn quirk." He frowned deeply, the other boy, Hitoshi Shinsou, raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Why would you want to know about my quirk? Seems like you have better things to do than talk to us General Department kids." The boy sighed, reaching up the rub the back of his neck.

"Back in the Sports Festival, Deku- I mean," Bakugou grimaced. "Izuku Midoriya, the guy you were fighting in the tournament. How'd he overcome your quirk?" His voice grew low, Shinsou's eyes widened.

"Is this about his disappearance?" The tone in Shinsou's voice had also gotten low, the mood had gone serious.

"Shut up and answer my questions already! Don't try to-" Bakugou's words fell flat. His entire mind went hazy, like it was shrouded in fog. It began to lift and he exhaled loudly, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Don't you DARE fucking do that again!" He reached over to grab the boy's collar, but Shinsou slapped his hand away.

"That's how it feels to be brainwashed by my quirk. Your mind is lost in this fog, you have your mind intact but your body will start obeying my command." He began explaining, sighing softly. "I don't know what this is about, but I have a feeling it's related to Midoriya's disappearance. Has he been brainwashed?"

Bakugou hesitated, knowing that only Class 1-A and the teachers knew all the details about Midoriya's disappearance and his transformation into a villain. He swallowed hard before nodding.

"You better keep your trap shut about this okay? We're just trying to figure some shit out." Bakugou's hands balled up into fists next to him.

"You must be desperate." Shinsou replied, leaning against the wall in the hallway. "You know that all quirks are different and my brainwashing is probably a different kind than whatever Midoriya is under."

Bakugou clenched his teeth, his fists shaking.

"I fucking KNOW that. But he broke out of your hold so maybe he can-" Bakugou's sentence dropped. His mind became hazy once more as he stared at the purple-haired boy with clouded eyes.

"Slap yourself." Shinsou commanded.

Bakugou's hand involuntarily went up, he struggled to keep his hand down but ultimately it slapped him right across the face. His mind cleared once again, the rage building inside of Bakugou as he took ahold of the other boy's shoulders and gripped hard.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID I SAY?!" His hands began to smoke, Shinsou staring at him dead in the eyes.

"That's what Midoriya had gone through. I don't know anything about how he could have gotten out of it, it's never happened before." Shinsou's sullen eyes looked from Bakugou to his hands that had its tight grip on his shoulders. Bakugou's teeth clenched tighter, threatening to break his own jaw.

"Then that means its possible right? He could get out of that brainwashing?" Bakugou let go, hands falling back to his side.

"I don't know. My quirk isn't the same as whatever that kid's under, but what he did has never happened to me before. He's a special case." Shinsou turned around and began walking away. "If anyone could get out of a bind, it's probably him. I don't want to give you false hope, but I believe he can break out of it." Shinsou left the school grounds, leaving Bakugou in the hallway.

Bakugou's heart began beating, mouth quivering. There was hope somewhere then. Time and time again, Deku had done something that surprised everyone, exceeding expectations.

"What the hell was that?"

Bakugou's head turned to face Todoroki, his own face falling into a grimace.

"What the fuck do you want?" He glared at Icey-Hot, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Telling people outside of our classroom about Midoriya? Don't you think that the police and teacher are already asking brainwash quirk users that kind of stuff? That guy doesn't know much but you're already blabbering out secrets." Todoroki's glare was cold. Bakugou's became fiery-hot.

"You think I can stand by and wait around for some police guy to figure something out? At least I'm trying to do something about it!" He spat back, keeping his balled fists in his pockets to prevent himself from lashing out at his classmate. "Don't tell me you haven't been doing some kind of research, everyone in class is. Fucking Yaoyorozu brought an entire library back from her fucking mansion to research this shit!"

Todoroki's frown fell deeper, the atmosphere grew cold.

"You're recklessly jeopardizing Midoriya's position. What if that General Education student went off to tell everyone that one of Class 1-A students have been brainwashed by villains? He's made it known that he resents us, so this is perfect leverage for him." The boy's voice grew louder, more fierce. Bakugou winced slightly, lowering his head.

"No, you dope! I know for a fact that shitty purple-haired loser isn't going to tell anyone." Bakugou glared back at Todoroki before turning around, heading out the building.

"And how do you know that?" Todoroki called out, following him.

"Because when I talked to him, he got those fucking eyes when I mentioned Deku. Like, shit I don't fucking know how to describe it." Bakugou turned back to him. "It's the same eyes you fucking got, the kind that means Deku helped you out in some fucking way."

Todoroki stopped, eyes wide. Bakugou sneered, that must've shut him up.

"By the way, I'M TAKING THE TRAINING FIELD TONIGHT! DON'T SHOW UP, BASTARD." Bakugou screamed out before walking out of the school.

-

Just like he expected, Todoroki did not show up to the training field that night. Perfect. Bakugou walked out into the field and took deep breaths, aiming his hands out. There was plenty of things he needed to work on. Maneuvering with his explosions to be as accurate and quick as he can, also he needed to work on condensing the trajectory of his blows in order to create a single, powerful shot. It was a special move he had been working hard on, and now he was able to work upon it in the training field.

Focus.

Put all the power on the tip of my fingers, don't activate the palm. Focus.

Before he could release the explosive energy stored up, Bakugou heard footsteps approach. He swung his hands towards the invader with threatening reflexes, only to come face to face with Inko.

"I-I-It's just me!" The mother squealed out, tears welling up in her eyes. Bakugou quickly put his hands down.

"Shit I'm sorry- I mean fuck, wait, shit sorry, you shouldn't have snuck up on me!" He tried to apologize for nearly blowing the woman's head off, and then for the cursing but ended up yelling at her instead.

"I'm sorry Katsuki! I should've said something, but then again you really shouldn't be out here past curfew!" Her face turned stern, her tears drying. Bakugou was sure the woman would've burst into tears but he misjudged the motherly instincts that overrides fear.

"I'm just training, you don't have to worry about me. I need to get stronger." Bakugou turned to look at his hands. Deku had pierced knives through his palms, and though it was healed up, the phantom pain acted up whenever he thought about it. Inko only stared at his hands and placed her own on top of one of them.

"Katsuki, I know you're working hard for Izuku, but if you push yourself you're not going to be able to do anything! Please get some rest." Her eyes looked tired, it didn't look like Inko got much sleep at night either.

Bakugou looked back to the training arena. He just got a chance to use the training field for the night, so should've been able to spend the limited time working on his special move. But… Inko's face looked too concerned, too motherly to refuse her request. He gritted his teeth looking away from her.

"I know you want to get stronger, you and Izuku are so alike you know?" Shit. Bakugou turned to face her, seeing her eyes well up once more. He quickly took ahold of her hands.

"And I will! I'm going to become stronger and save him! You got that? I made you a promise!"

Inko gave the boy a small smile, wiping her tears with a sleeve. "I know you will, but you need to not push yourself okay? Get some rest, please." Bakugou took another look at the mother's face and then nodded.

"Okay I will."

"You've been up every night for the last days, will you stop writing for one second and sleep?" A sofa cushion was thrown at Izuku's face.

"ACK, I'm almost done don't worry!" The young boy picked up the cushion and tossed it back at Tomura who was sprawled across the other sofa perpendicular to the table Izuku was writing at.

Tomura allowed the cushion to hit his legs, humming thoughtfully. He swung his feet over the arm rest and reached over, snatching the notebook from Izuku's desk with four fingers.

"Hey!" Izuku reached to grab back his notebook, only to be threatened by the last finger coming down.

"I can't fucking go to sleep with you tapping your pencil constantly. I'm tired so go to sleep." Tomura flung the notebook back at Izuku who scrambled to catch it. He sighed in relief when he had his notes in his hands, placing it down on the table. Looking over at Tomura, Izuku stood up from his seat.

Walking over to the other sofa, Izuku sighed and fell onto it, letting his face fall into the stuffed sheep plush.

"Fine I'll go to sleep…" Izuku didn't realize how tired he actually was until he closed his eyes and drifted off.

-

Bakugou blinked.

He was in his hero costume, standing in a hallway that looked oddly familiar. He took a few steps and realized where he was. The dark metallic hallway led to an opening of a floor, rubble and debris scattered about. He was back in Ground Beta, where Class 1-A had their first hero training class.

It took a few seconds of staring at the open wall to realize he was dreaming. Well, at least that's what he thought it was. Bakugou doesn't usually dream, and he definitely doesn't remember what happens vividly. He felt like he was actually there, standing on Ground Beta where he once fought Deku for the first time after being accepted into U.A.

Maybe it wasn't a dream, maybe this was somebody's quirk at play. Bakugou got himself ready, holding his gauntlets up as he scanned the area. Rushing footsteps alerted Bakugou and he turned towards the entrance of the floor.

He froze.

Izuku Midoriya stood there, out of breath in his original hero costume.

"Kacchan-!" He cried out, breaking out into a watery smile as he took a step closer to him. Bakugou quickly held an arm up, readying his gauntlet. Sweat rolled down his face as he screamed out.

"STAY THERE DEKU!" Even if it was just a one-on-one, Bakugou would be able to defeat Deku and take him back to U.A. He had to be clever, on the top of his game for a fight like this.

"Wait Kacchan I-" In a split second, Bakugou was using his other hand to propel himself towards the boy. He quickly used the momentum to spin his leg up, crashing it down on Deku's shoulder. He fell down onto the ground, gasping out as Bakugou grabbed his jumpsuit.

With one hand on Deku's back, the other holding his jumpsuit, Bakugou took in deep breaths, shaking ever so slightly. The boy underneath him struggled.

"Seriously get off me… I'm not trying to fight you, I don't even think this is real!" Deku yelled out.

Bakugou hesitated. It was strange, that was certain. There was no way they could've made it to Ground Beta without realizing something beforehand.

"The last thing I remember is going to sleep. I… I remember everything."

"…What?" Bakugou got off him, keeping his grip on Deku's jumpsuit as he slowly got himself up.

Deku coughed and started stretching his shoulders, rubbing it with a gloved hand. Bakugou stared at him, looking to see if there was any indication of whether or not this was an imposter before him. His brows furrowed, grip tightening.

"What the fuck is this Deku?" He growled, shaking the boy ever so slightly.

"Hey quit it, let go!" Deku pulled himself away from Bakugou and huffed, staring at him. His large eyes didn't seem as clouded or tired as the times he faced him after the villains had forced him into their league. His eyes were confused, yet determined.

"Better start giving me some explanations before I blow your god damn head off!" Bakugou hissed.

"I don't know what this is! I just know that I was asleep before this, so I think this might be a dream." Deku rubbed his head, then pinching his arm.

"I just went to sleep too, and I know I'm here so I'm probably the one dreaming and you're just my god damn imagination." Bakugou hissed, turning away. "I should've stayed away and trained. At least that would've been more useful than just dreaming about your sorry ass."

Deku walked towards him, grabbing his arm.

"No, I don't think just one of us is dreaming, I think we're both dreaming. Together? I think…" Izuku rubbed his chin, lost in thought. "I think we're both here through a shared memory. We're back in Ground Beta right? That's where we first fought officially as classmates." Deku turned to look at the debris.

"Shared memory? What the fuck are you talking about?" Bakugou turned back to glare down the smaller boy.

"I… I wasn't brainwashed. My memories were altered." Deku explained, his voice soft. Bakugou stared at him, walking back towards the boy. "I remember what happened, so I think my actual self is buried underneath all the false implants. It's just a theory but I think that we're both here through a shared memory, and in some weird way we got connected." Deku looked back up to Bakugou whose eyes were wide open.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard, but I don't think I could ever make up such a lame explanation. So I guess you're not just a dream version I whipped up." Bakugou's voice was low as well, his darkened stare lifted.

"I don't know if that's right, but it's just a theory. If my memories were altered, I wouldn't be able to remember this place. But I'm here now which means that I'm trying to reach them. Could it be, maybe it's…" Deku turned around to look at the surroundings, Bakugou followed his gaze. In the entrance way was shadows, eight sets of eyes loomed inside of corridor.

"It's just like during the sports festival…" Deku muttered. Bakugou turned back and pointed at the entrance, reading his hands.

"What the fuck is that shit?!" He moved onto offense.

"You can see them too?" Deku scrambled to move Bakugou's hand down. The shadows stayed still at the entrance, not moving.

"Is that your One for All shit? With all the people or something?" Bakugou frowned. What kind of all mighty quirk is it if they can't help out their current wielder?

"W-What? You know about One for All?" Deku gasped, fear appearing on his face.

"Yeah, All Might told me and your mom." He glared at the shadows in the hallway and turned back to Deku whose face went white.

"My mom…? Oh my god my mom, is she? Is she okay?" Deku's eyes began to well, Bakugou felt something tug at his heartstrings.

"She's fine. She moved into the dorms with us so we're all taking care of her. Or I guess she's taking care of us." Bakugou explained, stretching out his arms as he turned back to stare at the glowing eyes. Deku sighed in relief.

"I'm so glad. Thank you, Kacchan, for looking after her." He sniffed softly, rubbing his face.

Bakugou definitely couldn't be dreaming, he began to realize at this point, this "Deku" was nothing he could've imagined up for himself. This was the real deal.

"So what you're saying is that we happened to fall asleep around the same time and we got transported to here?" Bakugou frowned, not liking his explanation at all. It sounded fake, something that only happens in the comics or movies.

"Yeah… I think it's because One for All is trying to help me, and the only way they could was through my old memories." Deku shook his head. "Listen, Kacchan, if this is a dream or a vision or whatever then I have to tell you something!"

Bakugou's mouth twitched. He still wasn't happy at all about what was transpiring but if this was the real Deku asking for help, it was something he had to listen to.

"They've altered my memories, but right now I remember everything, even what's happening with me and the villains! I'm making a strategy, but I'm not finished. I just know that the villains," Deku gulped. "And me, are going to try and take all of Class 1-A down."

Deku's eyes watered while Bakugou's widened.

"Do you know when? Or how?"

Tears began rolling down Deku's cheeks, his hands clenched into fists, pulling at his jumpsuit. "I don't know when, but I know that it's going to involve nomus and using all your quirks' weaknesses, maybe even pitting all of you against each other. Similar to how final exam was, we're going to try to spread everyone out and pair people with the least compatibility." He shook his head, Deku began to tremble.

"I-I'm so sorry… I was weak, I couldn't snap out of their hold and now I'm helping them hurt all of you!" Tears fell from his face, the pain in his chest grew as Deku fell to his knees in front of Bakugou. "If-If I had known they would use me against all of you, I would've tried to let them kill me first-"

Bakugou took ahold of the jumpsuit once more, bringing Deku up to force him to look.

"Shut up! You're not weak you got that? So what if you got manipulated or whatever! We're going to get you back!" The fire in Bakugou's eyes were apparent, Deku stared at him as more tears slowly slid down his cheek. "You listen up nerd and you listen good. Even if it takes me the rest of my god damn life I'm going to rescue you, got that?" Determination rose, though Bakugou began trembling himself.

"It's my fucking fault this is happening. So I swear, I'm going to save you." The sincerity in his voice was something Deku had never heard before, it was almost too foreign for him to take seriously. Bits of pieces began to click in Deku's mind, causing him to share a shaky smile.

"Right, you're right Kacchan." Deku used his shoulder to wipe his tears away.

"Fucking cry baby." Bakugou let go of the jumpsuit, turning away to not show his own glistening eyes.

"Kacchan, I'm leaving it to you okay? I don't know when the next time we can meet like this is, but if I never see you again until I'm rescued then, well, I'm counting on you." Deku stepped back, taking a deep breath and smiled brightly at Bakugou. The boy scoffed, returning with a smirk of his own.

"Just wait, you'll be back to your dumb, annoying brat self in no time."

Deku muttered a thank you, smiling through his teary eyes.

-

Bakugou shot up from his bed, sweat clinging to his skin as threw off his blanket. He looked at his balcony door, seeing the sun slowly peeking up over the horizon. Taking a second, Bakugou tried to recall everything. To his surprise, it was as vivid as could be. He remembered everything.

Throwing himself out of his bed, he raced out of his room and into the hall. He had to tell All Might, his classmates even. The real Deku was still inside, buried deep down in all of the altered memories. He reached out! He was fighting back!

There was hope.

-

Izuku woke up abruptly. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and back, but dismissed it as the usual soreness he got from sleeping on a sofa. It was another dreamless night, or at least nothing he remembered. Sitting up in his makeshift couch bed, he yawned. Reaching up to rub his eyes, he was surprised to find that there were tears in them.